Are you a top influencer?

Iris Roelens

What was my dream when I was little?

I had many dreams when I was little. Becoming a doctor was one of them for a very long time. Also, I practiced karate and I always hoped that it would become an Olympic sport so that I could participate in the Olympic Games.

What am I doing when I am not working on my PhD?

When I’m not working on my PhD you can often find me running outside. I also like to experiment with programming languages and machine learning algorithms in my free time. Next to that I enjoy reading and having fun with friends.

What is my PhD about?

My PhD focusses on optimizing referral marketing campaigns using network analysis techniques. Interactions between customers can be used to build a customer network that can reveal valuable insights such as a customer’s influence on others. As such, it is possible to identify those customers who are most influential and thus are most likely to convince others to adopt a product. Furthermore, the network can be studied to find out which of these others are valuable potential customers and should receive specific messages to attract them as new customers.

Why is this important for practice?

It will allow marketers to target their campaigns to a particular group of influential customers and in that way will maximize the return while minimizing the costs.

How do I like to be remembered after my PhD?

As a researcher who always strives to conduct good research on relevant topics that will make someone’s life better, who always brings a good vibe to the office and who tries to meet many other researchers (abroad or in Belgium) to broaden her knowledge and views. Next to that, I’d like to be remembered as someone who inspired other girls to pursue studies or a career in a tech-related field.

How do I see my future?

In the future, I’d like to live and conduct research abroad for some time. It is my ambition to finish my PhD in three years and to be able to look back to it and be super proud of my research. I like to be open to new opportunities and not have a rigid plan, so what I will do after my PhD is still a surprise to me too.